Conventional audio/video conferencing systems comprise a number of end-points communicating real-time video, audio and/or data streams over and between various networks such as WAN, LAN and circuit switched networks.
A number of audio/video conference systems residing at different sites may participate in the same conference, most often through one or more MCU's (Multipoint Control Unit) performing i.a. switching functions in order to allow the audiovisual terminals to intercommunicate properly.
As audio/video conferencing involves various resources and equipment interoperating simultaneously at different localizations and capabilities; there is a need for the possibility to manage the resources involved, both for scheduled and ad hoc audio/video conferences. The wording schedule, or scheduler, should also be understood as including setting up ad-hoc meetings or calls as resources used in ad-hoc calls also must be reserved to avoid interference by other conferences.
Audio/video conferencing systems are therefore often ‘used in conjunction’ with a resource scheduler. A resource scheduler is a module that is used for scheduling or booking resources at any given point of time. The resource scheduler will allow a user to request resource usage at a given point of time, and either allow or disallow the usage at that time. Resource schedulers are often used for scheduling the use of meeting rooms, network resources, video systems etc. The resource scheduler must be connected to a database containing updated information regarding all accessible resources, like MCU's, gateways, routers, end-points etc.
A resource scheduler may e.g. provide system and resource overview, allowing the user to create, edit, and delete reservations, reserve resources for dial-in participants and specify bandwidth and network settings. The resource scheduler may also support automatic call routing and automatic selection of point-to-point connection, ‘or use of’ one or more MCU's. The resource scheduler may operate on an intuitive web interface requiring no additional installation on the user terminal, other than a conventional web browser.
All major players now bring this kind of management software into the picture, which lets you manage ad hoc video conferences through web GUIs. All also let you schedule conferences; some working with Outlook, Lotus Notes calendars or with proprietary solutions. However, none of the players offer ad hoc audio/video conferencing in a true sense with an intuitive GUI. Normally, an ad hoc conference initiator has to verify whether the wanted participants are available. This verification will typically find place using other GUI's than the conference vendors GUI, or a telephone; after verification the ad hoc conference can be established using some kind of management software.
Typically an initiator of an ad hoc conference will, if using conference facilities as defined in the state of the art, have a GUI, familiar to the users of management tools as Outlook, Notes etc., with calendars showing resource allocation both with regard to conference equipment as well as with regard to meeting rooms. The establishing of the conference will have many features in common with the planning of meetings, thus the initiator has to find out whether the needed resources are available, and verify whether the wished conference participants are present. Thereafter a conference call can be established by, for instance, clicking on the phone numbers of the invited participants on a GUI. As pointed out above this is not in line with the expectation one has to the wording “ad hoc”; ad hoc should be as intuitive as using instant messaging (IM) or a telephone. Further, in case of an upcoming conference no notification will be given to the participants of the ad hoc conference, thus the ad hoc conference can be forced to interruption without any notification given to the participants.
Traditionally, within the state of the art, video conferences scheduled using the Conference Management Systems are planned ahead of time with a list of invited participants, a start time, and an end time. The Conference Management Systems will be responsible for checking available Video conferencing resources for the requested time, connect the invited participants at the start time given for the conference, and disconnect all the participants at the conference end time. By attempting to manage Ad Hoc audio/video conferences in the same environment, one needs to address certain new issues. As an Ad Hoc audio/video conference has no known end time, the Conference Management Systems cannot set up an end time for the audio/video conference resource in question, and hence cannot predict when the resources are ready for another conference.
One of the main problems is; how long does an Ad hoc conference last? Today, if one schedules a conference without having any end time, the resources will be locked for all upcoming schedules until the conference is ended. This is a problem, as one will seldom have any knowledge regarding the end time of a conference. If the ad hoc conference is given a fixed end time by one of the participants, or a fixed end time is forced upon the Ad Hoc Conference, the participants will be surprised when the conference automatically ends at the fixed end time, or is terminated due to other upcoming conferences, particularly if this happens without any natural break in the conference. It is an implicit characteristic of Ad Hoc Conferences that they should be flexible without the need for setting time constraints such as end time or start time. Further, resources should be easily accessible, and they should not block other upcoming conferences, nor reservations of other conferences. Still further, the participants of an Ad Hoc conference should have the quality and predictability of a scheduled conference; hence no surprising interruption should occur.
As there currently does not exist any flexible system fulfilling the requirement indicated above, a consequence is that the resource management of the video conference equipment is poor. Based on experience people tend to book video conferences for a longer period of time than necessary, just to make sure that they have the necessary resources available, thus occupying video conference resources after their meeting has ended. In the worst case scenario one will have a lot of audio/video conferencing facilities that are unused, while at the same time having people who need the facilities, because the Management Systems is not updated and hence is shown as occupied even if it is free. Thus, there is a need for a sophisticated solution permitting a more flexible use of the audio/video conference resources.